Bioethanol market data for 2024: Domestic production on the upswing again | Significantly higher sugar beet processing
Berlin, 14th April 2025: The German Bioethanol Industry Association (BDBe) has published the 2024 market data for the production and consumption of certified sustainable bioethanol in Germany. Domestic bioethanol production in 2024 was almost 745,000 tonnes. This marked a noticeable increase in production of 11% compared to the previous year. The positive development in sales of Super E10 fuel continued in 2024.
On a fuel market that saw sales of almost 17.8 million tonnes of petrol, around 2% more than in the previous year, the bioethanol used as a fuel additive also rose to 6.9% by volume (2023: 6.8% by volume). The consumption of bioethanol, which was used as a fuel additive in the petrol types Super E10, Super Plus, and Super (E5) or for the production of ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), increased by 2.6% to just under 1.3 million tonnes (2023: 1.25 million tonnes).
The market share of Super E10 in petrol sales also continued to increase in 2024: from 25.9% in 2023 to 27.4%. The absolute sales volume of Super E10 was around 4.9 million tonnes, compared with 4.5 million tonnes in the previous year. Super (E5) reached a market share of 67.6% with over 12.0 million tonnes in 2024. In the previous year, 12.0 million tonnes of Super (E5) were sold, representing a market share of 69%. Super Plus was slightly above the 2023 level in the previous year, with a market share of 5.0% and 886,750 tonnes sold.
German bioethanol production saw a significant increase again in 2024, with production of over 744,000 tonnes, an 11% increase over the previous year. In particular, the production of bioethanol based on sugar beet increased significantly in the past year compared to 2023, by 78%. In 2024, a total of more than one million tonnes of sugar beets and around 2.6 million tonnes of feed grain were processed into certified sustainable bioethanol and other by-products such as GMO-free protein feed, biogenic CO2 or organic fertilisers and biogas in domestic biorefineries.
The bioethanol produced is also increasingly used as a sustainable and non-fossil raw material in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, for example, for the production of sustainable plastic, disinfectants or cosmetics. As a result, the use of German bioethanol in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries also significantly increased by 39.4% to 103,827 tonnes in 2024.The food and beverage industries also remain key customers for bioethanol producers, although use in these sectors decreased slightly to 97,973 tonnes (-1.2% compared to 2023).
In Germany, the greenhouse gas reduction quota (GHG quota), which will gradually increase to 10.6% by 2030, will in all likelihood continue to ensure stable sales of renewable fuel components in petrol in the current year. “The transport sector continues to lag behind when it comes to climate change mitigation. A further increase in the greenhouse gas reduction quota and thus also a higher additive rate of sustainable biofuels and other renewable fuels will help to achieve an even greater reduction in road transport emissions. This will make the climate targets more attainable,” said BDBe managing director Stefan Walter.
The in-depth market data 2024 with further infographics and details on the production and consumption of bioethanol is available in our detailed market data report: https://www.bdbe.de/bioethanol/marktdaten
The German Bioethanol Industry Association (BDBe) represents the interests of the biofuel sector’s member companies and associations, spanning agricultural production of the raw materials all the way to industrial production and processing of bioethanol and all co-products. Co-products include DDGS, CDS, biogenic carbonic acid, gluten, yeast, biomethane and organic fertilisers. For fuel uses, beverages or industry, bioethanol with different classifications is produced from feed grain, sugar beet or biogenic waste and residues. In Germany, the types of petrol currently available at petrol stations contain between 5% and 10% certified sustainable bioethanol.